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Deep Purple - Machine Head Audio CD

A fair review of the Deep Purple "Machine Head" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Deep Purple reviews here, or go back to the Deep Purple tabs.

Deep Purple Band: Deep Purple
Title: Machine Head
Rating:
Release Date: 1990-10-25
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Highway Star 2: Maybe I'm a Leo 3: Pictures of Home 4: Never Before 5: Smoke on the Water 6: Lazy 7: Space Truckin'

Minot ND, The "Windmill." 1971.
My friends and I sneaked (snuck?)into the Windmill at the tender age of 18. There I was in Minot, stationed as a Airman Security Policeman. Fake ID's, of course and for the sake of security, I shall not divulge our Tactic for nasty fakes. (I know, a lot of you are laughing right now. . . )

The first song I heard was from Deep Purple and a great evening ensued.

Oh, the stories. . .

This is simply a CLASSIC!

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Heavy Metal Must Own
Singer Ian Gillam shows amazing ability to hit clear high notes, and was also selected as the lead for the "Jesus Christ Superstar" album. Deep Purple was an English band, known as much for the technical expertise as their sheer volume. His screams on "Highway Star" are unbelievable, as are organist Jon Lord's Hammond runs, Ian Pace's thunderous drumming and Ritchie Blackmore's shredding leads. "Smoke On the Water", the classic hard rock anthem, first appeared on this disk, but "Lazy", "Maybe I'm a Leo", "Pictures Of Home", and "Never Before" are also great cuts that were overshadowed by the hits that received radio airplay. The closing cut, "Space Trucking" has even higher, more urgent, vocal screams near the end, which are the perfect dynamic conclusion to another racing heavy metal standard. This is one of the definitive hard rock albums, a must own for every collection.


AN AWESOME ALBUM FROM A CLASSIC METAL BAND
Highly recommended. This album Rocks! , classic songs like (smoke on the water) (highway star) (space truckin) and many more , it has to be one of the best metal albums ever made.


Original Smoke on the Water Still Kicks
This album is special in that it brought out Highway Star and Smoke on the Water, both if which went on to be super hits, especially Smoke on the Water which is included on many rock collection sets. Machine Head (1972) is getting close to being 40 years old, but it still sets the mark for the early rock years. .


Deep Purple's 'In Rock' blows this away
I totally disagree with this. The liner notes on this album say something like '2 out of 3 music critics agree: Heavy Metal was born in 1972 with the release of 'Machine Head'. I would have to say it was born in 1970 with the release of Deep Purple's 'In Rock'. 'In Rock' melted ears, and probably scared a lot of people to death. Ian Gillan's animal-like screams, Ritchie's explosive guitar chords, Lord's psychedelic organ, and the ground-pounding rhythm section of Ian Pace and Glover became a force to be reckoned with. Songs ranged anywhere between 3 and 8 minutes long and were jam-packed with long mesmerizing guitar solos and siren-throated screams.

Machine Head, in my opinion, was a cold, dry and over-calculated affair; It was recorded in a hotel lobby and it definitely shows. Ian's powerful shrieks are almost nowhere to be found in this album - perhaps once in 'Highway Star' and 'Lazy' and twice in 'Space Truckin' Ritchie's manic, spontaneous, fuzzed out guitar tone is replaced with a consistently drab, clean yet somewhat distorted, Fender rock-a-billy tone. And Jon Lord is just too. . . loungey on this record. With 'In Rock' his playing was just as crazy as the guitar pyrotechnics (sample 'Livin' Wreck'). On 'Machine Head', his playing passes for some good backdrop music for a dude in a 70s leisure suit holding a martini trying to pick up chicks (sample the keyboard solo in 'Never Before')

I'm sure a lot of people think this record is a wondrous classic - since a few of it's songs get a lot airplay (including the long yawner 'LAZY') but that's just it - it's tame enough to get airplay. Nothing on 'In Rock' gets airplay and that's because it's still too lethal for weak, untrained ears - 38 years after the fact.

I would even prefer to give the progressive leanings of 'Fireball' a spin before listening to 'Machine Head'



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You can see a complete list of all Deep Purple discography, or go back to the Deep Purple tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.

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